Drip, drip, drip. You’ll never know what venom
lies at the bottom of my martini glass.
A sweet temptress with a dry twist,
laced with the poison that
masks as desire.
So go on
my dear,
take a
sip.
It won’t bite.

If you’ve made it this far and have not aggressively closed your tab or perhaps spat out your tea / mulled wine / gin (it is Christmas after all), then well done – kudos to you!

Nevertheless, I feel a need to explain my thinking behind ‘Venom’, something that hasn’t seemed necessary for my other poetry. Because yes, this probably does look like a poem about a crazed woman spiking someone’s drink and making the whole ordeal sound inappropriately appealing. But beneath the surface layer was thought, craft… and a very random inspiration.

In the last year I’ve really enjoyed learning about and writing modern poetry, and when I decided I wanted to write a piece called ‘Venom,’ I knew that I wanted it to be led by a strong image. That’s where the martini glass came to mind, and decided to try my hand at concrete poetry, where the poem’s visual appearance matches its subject matter.

Most people will have written concrete poetry at least once in their lives, normally at primary school. I remember having great fun moving my page around as I wrote a poem in a circle, and somewhat ambitiously later attempting one in a kite, to soon discover that the poem’s structure was lost and my kite looked like more of a blob. I was never going to be an artist.

And that’s what I experienced with ‘Venom.’ Structuring just a normal poem can be nothing short of a bloody nightmare, and in my case often leads to passive aggressive tweets about stanza length and rhyme schemes. So being restricted to write within the image of a martini glass was frustrating, but an incredibly valuable experience, ensuring that I only included what was completely necessary.

But this still doesn’t explain why, with a title like ‘Venom’ so rich with imagery and obvious connotations (🐍🐍🐍), I had to go with a deadly cocktail. It is at this point I think you should know that the inspiration behind my poetry is never extravagant and rarely mature. ‘Venom’ was actually inspired by one of my favourite Disney films, the Emperor’s New Groove, when Yzma and her bumbling assistant Kronk attempt to poison Emperor Kuzco. Of course she accidentally gives him the wrong poison and turns him into a llama, and my poetry remains empty of llamas… for now (I’m serious, a llama will probably inspire me one day).

So there’s some of my thought patterns and processes behind a seemingly dark poem, that’s probably not as dark as you thought. I loved writing in a whole new style and attempting concrete poetry, and I’ll definitely be writing more in the New Year. Speaking of which, I hope you have a wonderful New Year and it brings you everything you wish for. 🙂

Would you like to hear more of the inspiration behind my poetry? Let me know and I’ll explain the thoughts from some of my other poems 🙂

Once again, in true Sarah style, it seems I’ve let my blog go to one side for the last couple of months. She’s a Writer… who has forgotten to actually write in her free time, oh the irony.

I say this, but my blogging absence hasn’t been without good reason; it’s been a busy couple of months. From graduating from the IDM in London and starting an exciting new job in Birmingham, to the slightly less important things like dying my hair and getting a nose piercing (that eventually fell out and healed up *cries*), my life has constantly been moving forward since September. And all from someone who is adamant that she doesn’t like change…

Education

On 4th November, I graduated from the IDM with a Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing (awarded with a credit), after studying online for two years whilst working full time. That was a great day. One of those that remains in the forefront of your mind, completely visible from the fog of day-to-day, trivial memories.

My Dad booked the day off work and we both headed down to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London for the ceremony. With plenty of time to spare, we took a detour to Verdi, the Royal Albert Hall’s Italian restaurant. If I were a lady of leisure living in and cavorting around London, I’d visit Verdi every day. Yes, the food itself was delicious, but the atmosphere was something else. It’s grand yet modern and inviting, and you’re sat directly above the concert hall, so can be serenaded by music whilst eating your bodyweight in breadsticks, garlic bread and pizza (yep, this happened).

Full of dough, we quite literally rolled out of Verdi and off to my graduation. I’d been told how beautiful the RGS building was before my visit, and it didn’t disappoint. You could feel the history in every room and it soon filled up with fellow students, their guests and tutors. We were lucky to have great keynote speakers and each experienced the strangely wonderful conflict of fear and pride when getting up on stage in front of everyone to receive our diplomas.

I had an amazing day with my Dad and I am so proud to have achieved such a challenging qualification. However, I will admit I’m glad to now have a break from studying, after 15 years of pretty much constant education and exams.

Work

Street art near where I work in Digbeth, Birmingham.

A new job, a new company, a new city. Daunting? Yes; but my god it was so, so worth it.

On 14th November, I started working as a copywriter at a creative communications agency in Birmingham. I’d previously worked at a marketing and design agency in Worcestershire and after a great two and a half years, it was time for me to spread my wings and focus on taking my writing to the next level in a completely new environment. Without sounding too cheesy, I’m really, really enjoying my new job and I’m looking forward to seeing where I am this time in 2017.

The whole job hunt, applying and interview process was a strange one, as I’ve never actually done it before. In my last job, I was offered the role after three week’s work experience when I was 17, so I didn’t have to apply or go through a formal interview. With my new role, I applied through a recruitment agency based in Birmingham and soon I’ll be writing about this and the advice I’d give based on going through my first interview. #SPOILERALERT and tip number one – don’t wear stupid shoes or heels that will hurt your feet. At least not for the walk. Your feet will be achy, sweaty and you might have a funny limp going into the interview room.

Etc.

Onto the smaller life changes that don’t constitute a LinkedIn update (but definitely a well thought out, hashtag filled Instagram post). In September, I was unapologetically me, stopped caring what people might think and got the nose piercing I’d wanted for the last two years. Ok, it did fall out in the night two weeks ago and heal up, but the actual process of getting it done was so liberating and I’ll definitely be getting it redone soon.

Fast forward two months and I had my hair bleached for the first time to a white blonde, something that pre-nose-piercing-Sarah would never have done. It sounds stupid, but I do think the two are linked. I find the prospect of change, in any aspect of life, quite intimidating and because of this, can end up playing thing’s safe. Nevertheless, I finally went to the hairdressers and I’m so happy with the result! Yes I may have panicked when I got home and spent the next week staring in the mirror questioning my existence, but now I’ve got over the adjusting period and I absolutely love my new hair.

More than this has changed in the last few months. I’ve called She’s a Writer a ‘coming of age blog’ and lately I have seen a shift in myself, my attitudes towards others and what I want to get out of life. It’s hard to explain and it’s difficult to know how to feel, I guess it’s just called entering the adult world. But that is a whole other blog post in itself that I really have no idea how I’ll write, so until then I’m just going to squeeze as much as I can out of life and attempt to document it all on here. A writer who might actually start writing in her free time…